Ok – let me first start by saying that no children were harmed during the making of this sun tea. I am well aware that sun tea is not the safest way to make tea and that it can be a breeding ground for bacteria if not made correctly. The kids DID NOT drink the tea. LOL! That being said, on with my story! : )
My husband has been asking me for weeks to go out and buy one of those glass tea containers so that “we can make sun tea like my mom used to make”. If you know my husband, you know that he loves to start new traditions and carry on old ones. Even if it hasn’t been practiced since he was 3! Now, I don’t know many wives that like to hear “well, my mom used to do it like this, why don’t you do it that way”. So, thank goodness that my mother-in-law has had some good ideas and recipes or we’d have trouble! Ha ha! And, I must say in his defense, he really doesn’t say that too often!
So, today I finally gave in and picked up one of those glass containers with a spigot on it at Walmart - which I didn’t even think they made in glass anymore, and some family size tea bags and gathered around the daycare kids for a lesson on how to make tea the eco-friendly way. They were so excited and intrigued by the whole process. We explained how that the sun would warm up the jar and the tea would then brew by not using any electric from the stove and how it was important to save electricity any way we could. We then headed out to the back yard and stuck it on the picnic table. Within minutes you could see it working and the kids were so excited! We let it sit for about 3 hours and in the end, it did look and taste just like what my mom used to make also.
You know, I can remember being little and making sun tea with my mom. She’d fill the container with water and tea bags and then sit it in the back yard right in the middle of the sidewalk for the sun to heat up. I would then wait for what seemed like an eternity. Wait for the water to turn that dark brown color – that wasn’t quite opaque because of the sun rays beaming through it. When it was finally finished, I would run and get mom and we’d take it in the house and put it on the kitchen counter where I’d hop up and sit beside her. We would fill two big glasses, one for her and one for me, with ice and then pour the warm tea over it. Next, we’d proceed to put teaspoon after teaspoon of sugar in it to sweeten it up. That’s how you did it where I grew up, in West Virginia. It had to be sweet and I mean SWEET.
It’s so crazy how memories like that pop back in your head just by doing something as an adult that you did as a child. I guess that’s why my husband loves his traditions so much. We have always said that we’re going to keep up with important traditions for our children so that one day they’ll have those memories of mom and dad making sun tea in the back yard on those hot summer days!
